Raymond (Ray) Barkway
Croxley's own Olympian
Croxley's own Olympian
Raymond Barkway 24 August 1924 - 1 July 1956
Raymond Charles Barkway was born on August 24, 1924, in Uxbridge, England. He attended Watford Grammar School and during this time lived, for some time in Oakleigh Drive and Hazelwood Road, Croxley Green and the young Barkway arrived at Watford Boys Grammar School in 1937.
After his father got the job of stationmaster on the Watford Metropolitan line, the family moved into the station house in Cassiobury Park Avenue in 1939.
Raymond Barkway appearing on the 1939 Register
Raymond Barkway appearing on the 1939 Register
In 1939 Ray Barkway was living with his parents at the Watford Met station. Raymond was 13 years old when starting Watford Boys and he left aged 18 years.
(© Watford Observer)_Ray at Watford Boys
Later Ray attended Exeter College, Oxford. He was an athletics Blue in 1948 and only an accident sustained while playing rugby prevented him from winning a second Blue in 1949. Having competed at the 1948 Olympics, he moved to Manchester University in 1950. That year he lost by inches to Hildreth in the AAA 110 yards hurdles final. A few months later, while coaching the Summer School at Loughborough College, Barkway was selected for the British team to go to the European Championships at Bruxelles. In 1951, he won his only international medal when he took the 100 metre hurdles bronze in the World Student Games at Luxembourg behind fellow Briton Paul Vine and the West German gold medallist Günther Thielmann.
In his athletics career Ray was a 110-meter high hurdler who competed for Great Britain in the 1948 London Olympics. He was a talented hurdler, although he competed at a time when Britain had other strong hurdlers.
In 1951, he won a bronze medal in the 100-meter hurdles at the World Student Games in Luxembourg.
His personal best for the 110 yard hurdles was 14.9 seconds in 1950.
He moved to Manchester University in 1950 and he became a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
Tragically, on July 1, 1956, Ray was on flying exercises at Tilstock Airfield near Whitchurch, Shropshire when the Grumman TBM-3E Avenger he was piloting crashed, killing both Barkway and his co-pilot. The inquest into the crash found the engine failed during a steep turn due to a loose nut in the carburettor. At the time of his death, Ray was the physical games master at Clifton College, Bristol and it was Barkway who fired the silver Smith & Wesson revolver to start the historical race at Iffley Road, Oxford, in May 1954, when Roger Bannister, a fellow Oxford Blue, broke the four-minute barrier for the mile.
In 1951, he won a bronze medal in the 100-meter hurdles at the World Student Games in Luxembourg.
His personal best for the 110 yard hurdles was 14.9 seconds in 1950.
He moved to Manchester University in 1950 and he became a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
Tragically, on July 1, 1956, Ray was on flying exercises at Tilstock Airfield near Whitchurch, Shropshire when the Grumman TBM-3E Avenger he was piloting crashed, killing both Barkway and his co-pilot. The inquest into the crash found the engine failed during a steep turn due to a loose nut in the carburettor. At the time of his death, Ray was the physical games master at Clifton College, Bristol and it was Barkway who fired the silver Smith & Wesson revolver to start the historical race at Iffley Road, Oxford, in May 1954, when Roger Bannister, a fellow Oxford Blue, broke the four-minute barrier for the mile.
In 1954 Ray married Barbara Ruth Bennett (1928–1978) in Bristol, Gloucestershire when at this time, Ray was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy
Raymond (Ray) Barkway
Ray's funeral service was held at the Clinton College Chapel and he was cremated privately with his ashes given to his family members.
Probate record for Raymond Barkway
